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Last week, two Democrats in the Senate hosted a “bicameral public forum to receive testimony on the violent tactics and disproportionate use of force by agents of the Department of Homeland Security.” Here in Minnesota, we continue to deal with the thousands of immigration enforcement agents who have unleashed unspeakable violence on our state. Flights leave daily with men, women, and children, some of whom are citizens, green-card holders, or asylum-seekers with pending cases, to detention centers with a prevailing culture of abuse. Countless other legal observers and protesters, including myself, have been handcuffed and detained for hours without being charged with a crime, or intimidated with weapons and threats.

In the spirit of the public forum held in the District of Columbia last week, I collected the following set of comments ICE agents have made to my community, pulled from video recordings, sworn affidavits, and media reports. (A sourced list of these interactions is being compiled here.) We may not know their names or see their faces, but we hear what they say.

“He’s gonna run us over.”

—Anonymous

Agent standing in front of a truck and aiming a gun at Adan Nunez Gonzalez, while other agents rip Gonzalez out of his vehicle. Gonzalez was an asylum-seeker with no criminal record but was deported to Mexico. Nov. 11.

“Hit me and you’ll see what happens. You don’t want to see what happens if you hit me.”

—Anonymous

Agent standing in front of a car with an assault rifle pointed at the driver. Dec. 7.

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“Fucking bitch!”

—Jonathan Ross

After moving in front of Renee Good’s car, then........

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